Élékéré Press, a new independent boutique publisher based in Abuja, has introduced the Élékéré Prize for Fiction, a $500 award for outstanding short stories by Black writers. The inaugural edition centers on the theme “Inheritance,” inviting submissions that wrestle with the things inherited, whether by choice or by circumstance.

The prize is open to writers across Africa and its diaspora, particularly focused on Black writers at the margins still in the process of shaping their stories. Élékéré Press frames the award as the first move in a larger commitment: seeking out voices that have gone under-recognized and giving them room to be seen.

“Working across publishing, activism, and social justice for over a decade has made us realise that there are so many amazing voices and perspectives that never get the chance to be heard,” said Justin Dozie, co-founder of Élékéré Press. “There is still the belief that there is a certain way to be a writer and a certain way to be a Black and African writer. The Élékéré Prize is the first step in our pledge to support work that fits no mould, that is innovative, and authentic.”

The press sees the prize as a springboard for voices from the continent and its diaspora to recenter indigenous narratives and reshape prevailing ideas of what authentic Black and African storytelling looks like. Co-founder Nnaemeka Nnam pointed to the meaning behind the press’s name: “Élékéré is the Igbo word for clock. We chose it because time is the thing our writers have been denied, told again and again that the moment isn’t right, that the market isn’t ready. A clock doesn’t ask permission to strike the hour. Neither do we.”

Judging the inaugural edition is acclaimed Nigerian writer Arinze Ifeakandu, author of God’s Children Are Little Broken Things. Ifeakandu has won the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Republic of Consciousness Prize, been a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and the Lambda Literary Award, and received a Story Prize Spotlight Award and an O. Henry Prize. “I was delighted to be invited to judge this inaugural prize, firstly because I love short stories, but also because African and black writing has never been so exciting,” Ifeakandu said. “I so much look forward to the stories that will come my way.”

Submissions must be original, unpublished works of fiction written in English, capped at 3,500 words, with work created or edited using artificial intelligence deemed ineligible. The deadline for entries is August 31, 2026, at 11:59 pm WAT, with full guidelines available on Élékéré Press’s website.